Life of Agony – The River Runs Again (SPV)
Yeah! This is awesome! The reunion concert of these NYHC champs, they started a whole revolution, dropped off the face of the earth, and then six years later got the original line-up together, let the magic flow, and caught it all on tape. Two nights in New York City, and I was there the first night. One of the best concerts of my life, bar none. The styles of the songs vary a lot, a reflection of the group’s development, and everything is performed as if there was a nice big fire under their collective ass. One of the best live albums of all time.

Tracks:

DISC 1:
1) Classic song, but FCC’s.
2) Another awesome classic, and I really like this version, lots of change-ups. Ends at -0:22, and then FCCs in crowd talk, so fade down.
3) Another awesome rendition of a very soulful song, but again ends at -0:45, and then stage banter and FCCs.
4) Sounds a lot heavier live, like this much more than the studio version.
5) One of my favorite fucking songs of all time, and although it misses the studio version’s second guitar, it still sounds awesome, with an excellent emotional twist on the vocals.
6) Good song, but nothing exceptional, don’t really know why this was included, I can think of several better songs.
7) Excellent driving tune, very cool bass and guitar interplay, and such depressing lyrics. I love it! Ends at -0:37, and then stage banter, funny, FCCs.
8) FCC at -2:16, but otherwise awesome, rhythmic, total old-school NYHC.
9) Oh wow, the song dedicated to his dead mother, sounds unbelievable, his voice holds up just fine. Dig.
10) Awesome tune, sounds really heartfelt and vicious here, with some amazing grooves, and then total staccato madness. Ends at -1:10, and then crowd chanting, and then a ton of FCCs, so fade down.
11) Amazing song, but too many damn FCCs in the choruses, so don’t touch it.

DISC 2:
1) Tangerine! So good, so soulful, sounds like one of them new-wave bands, but good. Ends at -1:07, and then stage banter, funny, FCCs, so fade down.
2) Sweet song, well, in a way. Emotional, I guess I’ll understand it better in a couple of years.
3) This song shouldn’t be here. Oh well, bad decision.
4) Now this, this is a gem. A fucking gem! Just Keith Caputo with his acoustic guitar, strumming, and the crowd sings along. Wow. The night I saw them (the first night), he started the song, fucked it up halfway through, started again, at the halfway point he realized his guitar was out of tune, dropped the whole thing altogether, and they moved on to the next song. That’s how I know this is from the second night. I am cooler than you are!
5) Another classic NYHC song, with an awesome message. Check out that intro, feel the crowd participation, and then sing along to the chorus.
6) Another great groove, and then some impressive bass work, and then a great song. I dunno what’s to not like, except for the last 20 seconds, that’s just stage banter, with FCCs, so fade down.
7) And then play the best song of the last decade. I was in the pit for this puppy, and let me tell you, nothing compares to that feeling. Vocals fade in and out throughout the song, but otherwise this is pretty spotless. Last minute is the same usual stage banter, crowd cheering, etc. FCCs, so fade down in time. You see the pattern here?

Songs 8, 9, and 10 are tracks from each member’s side-project. Ignore these POS shameless, self-promoting songs. Ignore them! Just pretend they’re loaded with FCCs.